Crony capitalism windfall for pal of Trump treasury secretary.

'You'll never need to work again': Criminals offer reporter money to hack BBC. I recently got offered millions of pounds to give cyber criminals from the Medusa gang my BBC login. I played along to learn about how these 'insider threat' deals work. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

A good post by Bruce Schneier: digital threat modeling under authoritarianism www.schneier.com/blog/archive...

"Dallas Morning News shareholders vote to deny the hedge fund Alden Global Capital." The hedge fund offered more money. Did you hear what I said? "Alden Global Capital is well known as the worst possible newspaper owner for anyone who cares about journalism." www.niemanlab.org/2025/09/dall...

Lol.

U.S. citizens can opt out of having their photos taken for facial recognition ID as they board flights abroad. But don’t expect your airline to explain that. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/26/t...

U.S. revokes the visa of Colombia’s president, Gustavo Petro, who was making all kinds of anti-genocide mischief in NYC this week.

Trump is feeling especially drunk with power this Friday night., demanding Msft fire Lisa Monaco. It would be nice to see a powerful global player like Msft show some backbone and refuse.

“We do not provide technology to facilitate mass surveillance of civilians.” Brad Smith, president of Microsoft, in an internal email. Msft cut cloud service to Israeli military intelligence’s elite Unit 8200 following an exposé by @theguardian.com

The NYT giving Trump’s fracker-in-chief a publicity boost by hosting him at a Times event is just a bit too much bending over backwards in the name of faux impartiality, dontcha think?

The richest man on earth owns X. The second richest man on earth is about to be a major owner of TikTok. The third richest man owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. The fourth richest man owns The Washington Post. See the problem here?

Ruin a book with a car: A Riviera Runs Through It.

Big win for privacy: Multiple U.S. Courts of Appeals ruled that carriers (e.g. Verizon, T-Mobile, etc.) must protect your cell phone location data. This closes a 5+ year saga over whether carriers can sell/share that data without consent. epic.org/multiple-cou...

Still unanswered: Were Erik Prince’s contractors/mercenaries controlling the drone that killed eight kids in Haiti? www.nytimes.com/2025/09/23/u...

Fascinating NYT investigation into the veracity of “The Tell” that emphasizes how important celebrity endorsements have become to the publishing industry. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/24/n...

Do not comply in advance.

Cyberattack on Jaguar Land Rover results in a prolonged production shutdown. 25% of suppliers have already taken steps to pause production and temporarily lay off workers.

I took Tylenol as needed throughout my pregnancy. I am a doctor. I order Tylenol for pregnant women regularly. Tylenol is safe in pregnancy. RFK Jr is ignoring a huge recent well-done study because he doesn't like the answer it gives. There is no causality between Tylenol and autism.

Seen on the DC metro:

This @coldwarsteve.bsky.social collage complements the @wired.com cover.

There’s a fair chance these SIM farms may have absolutely nothing to do with the U.N. General Assembly. 35-mile radius? Sounds like a criminal or espionage operation. The U.S. Secret Service might have done more forensics before making this breathless announcement. apnews.com/article/unga...

The scientific genius who once suggested bleach as a potential COVID killer. Did anyone ask him to define autism?

This ought to be engraved somewhere.

Curtis Evans, 65, is one tough hombre. taskandpurpose.com/news/marine-...

Great news for planetary health. Unfortunately, the U.S. has not ratified the High Seas Treaty and is not expected to under Trump. Instead, Trump has issued an executive order saying NOAA can unilaterally issue permits for deep-sea mining in international waters. Dozens of countries object.

So you’re going to defund Trump’s DOJ, Sen. Schiff?

MSNBC: Trump’s DOJ shut down probe of Homan over $50K FBI bribe sting. www.msnbc.com/msnbc/news/t...

“We have never been this foolish with security.” AI has ushered in a new golden age of hacking. Hackers are using AI’s immense capabilities to pierce networks and turn victims’ insecure AI tools against them. joemenn.bsky.social (Shades of 1998 www.washingtonpost.com/sf/business/...)

EU nations with a few exceptions (Hungary and Slovakia) have already cut back big on Russian energy buys. Sadly, “there is a clear acceptance of the fact that Trump is not going to expend U.S. political and economic resources on getting tough on Putin.” www.nytimes.com/2025/09/19/w...

I was reliably told celebrating political violence was cause for government reprisal and private sector termination.

Obey. I always did have a problem with that word.

No location info provided. This ups the death toll to 17 in three air strikes on alleged drug smugglers in the Americas.

Let me guess. The inflation data is not beneficial to Mr. Trump.

The United States of America now officially up for sale. Do the Hyundai workers expelled back to S. Korea get a waiver?

Hospitals across Washington state are being forced to lay off staff, reducing services because of GOP health care cuts. This is real. And it’s happening because Republicans chose tax cuts for billionaires over health care for our families. I'm fighting to repeal these cuts.

Can't cancel this, Mr. President!

AP-NORC poll: Just over half of Republicans say the country is heading in the wrong direction. That’s twice what it was on Trump’s second inauguration day.

Trump’s anti-clean energy policies are a death sentence for Atlantic Ocean coral reefs. “The analysis of over 400 reefs across the Atlantic estimates that more than 70 percent of the region’s reefs will begin dying by 2040 even under optimistic climate warming scenarios.”

Federal Civil Censorship agency.

Jimmy Kimmel was suspended by ABC after pressure from the United States government. This is a direct attack on the First Amendment. Everyone who values freedom of speech should be outraged — and they should speak out.

See Pomarantsev for the Putin media takeover playbook that Trump that is hoping to emulate. He is even more brazen than Putin: www.faber.co.uk/product/9780...

This is the real reason Jimmy Kimmel is being taken off the air. Brian Stelter: "Nexstar already owns lots of TV stations. It wants to merge with Tegna, which owns lots of other stations. In order to do that, it needs Brandon Carr, the FCC Chair's, permission."

Via AP's @rjfoley.bsky.social: ICE now going after crime victims "Critics say the outcome is not only cruel to victims and their families but is harming public safety by making those who are in the U.S. illegally unlikely to report crimes and cooperate with police." apnews.com/article/immi...

U.S. Sens. Van Hollen and Merkley fact-finding trip on Gaza verdict: Netanyahu is engaged in ethnic cleansing, which Van Hollen calls ”both immoral and flat-out illegal.” He adds, ”Let’s end it, and bring the hostages home.”

While Trump’s War Dept murders alleged low-level narcos in speedboats boats off Venezuela, Mexico’s new drug kingpin rides high, protected by an RPG-armed security phalanx. Cocaine sold in the U.S. is cheaper and as pure as ever. And moves chiefly thru the Pacific. www.wsj.com/world/americ...

God bless Jerry Greenfield. Oberlin ‘73. He was there during the Kent State shootings just down the road. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/17/b.... oberlinreview.org/3041/news/je...

archive.ph/Nounq Coates is a must-read on why it’s wrong to sane-wash Charlie Kirk. There is no room for moral relativism. Why, he asks, did Ezra Klein’s hollow NYT column not include even a single word of Kirk’s. Coats provides plenty, that we may judge, including of Kirk’s close associates.

Scoop: Business Insider informed its staff this week that they are allowed to use ChatGPT to generate first drafts of their stories, while also indicating the newsroom will not disclose such A.I. use to readers. Details in @status.news: www.status.news/p/business-i...

cato institute analysis of murders by political ideology since 1975, excluding 9/11